The present invention relates generally to weighing apparatus for weighing and conveying items of various shape and size. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a weighing apparatus having at least two wheels for weighing and conveying an article.
Weighing apparatus may be used in a variety of processes. For example, weighing apparatus may be used as part of a conveyor system to weigh items as they travel along the conveyor. One such system, known generally as a checkweigher, may include multiple (e.g., three) conveyors arranged one after the other, each conveyor having a separate purpose. In such an arrangement, the first conveyor may be an infeed conveyor, the second a weighing conveyor, and the third a discharge conveyor. The infeed conveyor may accelerate items in a manner that provides the spacing necessary to allow the weighing conveyor to weigh one item at a time.
Such a system is generally placed in line with another conveyor system. If a customer already has a conveyor system in place and wants to add a checkweigher to that system, the customer must typically reroute or reconfigure the current conveyor system to accept the checkweigher. Such a reconfiguration can be quite costly. Thus, it is desirable in at least some circumstances to weigh an item without the above-described need for conveyor system reconfiguration. The present invention addresses this need.